On May 3rd, the National Endowment for the Arts Abruptly terminated grants to arts organizations across the country.

As of tonight, an informal tally shows nearly 560 grants canceled spanning performing visual literary folk arts and education, totaling more than $27 million.

The sudden loss of federal funding has left organizations scrambling to fill budget gaps

and contributed to the resignation of several senior NEA staffers.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown has more for our series Art in Action,

exploring the intersection of art and democracy as part of our canvas coverage.

Stay!

I pray they tell me what thou think'st of me!

A Harlem Theatre Company that brings classic works to a diverse audience,

an organization that supports artists in their communities in urban St. Paul and rural Fergus Falls, Minnesota. And a San Francisco nonprofit that promotes equitable access to skills and supplies to make

environmentally sustainable art.

Three local arts organizations connected by a common thread.

I got an email at about 10 o'clock on Friday night.

Saying that our potential funding was being withdrawn.

This grant no longer meets the priorities of the federal administration.

All of them, National Endowment for the Arts recipients who last month had grants terminated

as the NIA was, quote, updating its grant-making policy priorities.

Laura Zabel is executive director of Springboard for the Arts in Minnesota.

Founded in 1991, Springboard helps working artists make a living by organizing events like pop-up

markets to sell their work and facilitating delivery of arts programs that

address local issues. Springboard was awarded its $150,000 grant to pay for a new artist-led

initiative that aims to counter the mental health and isolation crisis in urban and rural Minnesota.

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